Ken Burns is simultaneously working on projects ranging from Vietnam to the history of the Mayo Clinic to a documentary on country music.

Next he'd like to tackle human genetics.

WETA, the PBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., has optioned the rights to The Gene: An Intimate History, Siddhartha Mukherjee's expansive book on the human genetics, published in May, with Burns attached as producer.

The four-hour project, now in development and seeking funding for what Burns anticipates will be a 2018 airdate, marks a reunion of the author and producer: Burns' 2015 project, Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, was based on Mukherjee's 2010 book. Both projects will also share producer/director Barak Goodman.

Author Siddhartha Mukherjee's 'The Gene' is being developed as a PBS miniseries by Ken Burns.(Photo: Deborah Feingold)

The Gene is "very much the kind of detective piece I always (liked) in my work; it's asking the historical question of who are we as individuals," Burns says in an interview, "It's getting to the most atomic level of what existence means, and it's thrilling."

The project's scope is also more expansive than Maladies, but "we're dealing with complex science we know we can make accessible to anyone," Burns says.

The book, which combines Mukherjee's family story with science and social history, topped the New York Times' best-seller list and won praise from critics.